Cold Sassy, GA, turn of the 20th century. Will Tweedy tells us all about the people he knows, the people he loves, the people he doesn't care for. WeCold Sassy, GA, turn of the 20th century. Will Tweedy tells us all about the people he knows, the people he loves, the people he doesn't care for. We follow along as he learns more about life and death and love than most 14-year-olds might know...but most of it comes to him as he overhears (read eavesdrops) on others' private conversations. Interesting plot device, but lousy trait in a person.

The book begins with death and ends with death. Along the way, there is a marriage, a suicide, a disaster of a Christmas play. Pranks and stories, new-fangled automobiles.

At the center is Will and his grandfather...Maybe Grandpa knows Will is listening and talks to the boy hiding behind the door.

The audible book was excellent. The narrator never stumbled on the dialect, and may have added some flourishes....more

I knew this story as TEN LITTLE INDIANS, but I learned the racist rhyme was even more unsavory in Britian, so this title was changed...

10 strangers arI knew this story as TEN LITTLE INDIANS, but I learned the racist rhyme was even more unsavory in Britian, so this title was changed...

10 strangers are invited to an isolated island, for mysterious reasons...by U. N. Owen (Unknown!!). And the first murder occurs within hours. Each was lured there to face justice for a murder he or she thought was unknown...

Each is killed in the fashion of the nursery rhyme, here involving soldiers...ten becomes nine, becomes eight.

I remembered the twist in the story from watching old films, but I was still entertained and kept guessing.

What happens when justice is denied...and then is taken into the hands of others who see it as their duty to take revenge? Is it justice? Is it murder? Do these people deserve the fate in store for them?

Four young people whose lives have been changed by war. Four young people from four war-torn countries. Four young people with horrible secrets too biFour young people whose lives have been changed by war. Four young people from four war-torn countries. Four young people with horrible secrets too big to bear. Four young people whose lives take them to the WILHELM GUSTLOFF, a German ship torpedoed by a Russian submarine...with 10,000+ people aboard.

Four young people. The worst maritime disaster in recorded history...the disaster we know nothing about.

Joana is Lithuanian, the cousin of Lina from BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY. Her first line: "Guilt is a hunter."Florian, a Prussian artist tricked into stealing priceless art for the Nazis. His first line: "Fate is a hunter."Emilia, a pregnant Polish girl...her first line: "Shame is a hunter."And Alfred, a German sailor pretending to be so much that he will never be. His first line: "Fear is a hunter."

I read the book through the lens of guilt, fate, shame, fear, as I watched these brave teens do everything they could to survive...to get on that boat...to face the future.

All but Alfred have to walk across the barren winter landscape to even get to the ship...and along the way, others in their party are lost.

Sepetys is a master of historical fiction, of bringing to us stories we've never heard. Of making us face the ugly truths of tyrants.

Each character narrates his and her own story with authenticity, including Alfred, who is nearly impossible to understand or empathize with.

The climax is heart-rending. Major characters and lovable minor characters do not survive, as over 9,300 souls on the ship did not. The suspense, the fear freeze our hearts.

Some will not survive...the sea doesn't care...all human life is as significant and meaningful to the sea as is the salt...but to us, the characters are so important...we care about them, and we want them to survive this disaster......more

I knew a little about Shostakovich, and have heard at least the 5th Symphony live. But, what I did not know about him would have filled the pages of aI knew a little about Shostakovich, and have heard at least the 5th Symphony live. But, what I did not know about him would have filled the pages of another symphony, for sure.

I didn't know he was targeted several times by Stalin for his 'unpatriotic' music, formal and Western. I didn't know for a while he slept in his clothes in the entry hall of his apartment, so that WHEN the secret police came to get him, he wouldn't disturb his wife and children. I didn't know one symphony, the 4th, was banned for 20 years. I didn't know he was trapped for a bit in the Nazi siege of Leningrad during the war. I didn't know he was betrayed, time and again, by friends. I didn't know...

And the other main character of this book is the City of the Dead, Leningrad, left to starve by both Hitler and Stalin...but it didn't starve. I did know about the reports of cannibalism. I didn't know the extent of the suffering. I didn't know that Shostakovich and his immmediate family did escape, but the government reniged on their promise to bring his sister's family and his mother. I didn't know that the public library in Leningrad stayed open and provided physical and emotional shelter. Just as the best libraries should. I didn't know that only 15 musicians were left alive in Leningrad when the government decided that a performance of the 7th should take place. Musicians died at their place after rehearsals. I didn't know...

And then there's the Symphony. The Leningrad Symphony, composed during parts of the Siege, under horrifying circumstances. I didn't know that, when he and his family were escaping, the manuscript was lost for a while, found in a filthy bathroom. I didn't know the pages of the Symphony were copied and sent secretely to the US and England, where it was performed before it was performed in Leningrad. I didn't know that the Russians used the piece as propaganda, to drum up aid in the west. I didn't know...

I didn't know as much about Russian history as I would have liked. I didn't know that the Communists' first Five Year Plan starved as many Russian peasants as Hitler's mass exterminations. I didn't know the extent of the Russian casualities in the war...the numbers of Russian dead nearly exceeds my capacity to comprehend. I didn't know that Stalin nearly destroyed his own military before Hitler ever raised a finger to the east, and his country nearly lost the war because of his meglomania. I didn't know.

I didn't know that musicologists still argue about the target of Shostakovich's fury. Lord knows both tyrants more than earned it.

This book, this story, is horrifying and compelling. Human to the core. It shows us at our best and our worst. It reminds us that art can inspire us to feats we cannot imagine. It reminds us that art can be a weapon.

I'd rate the story and the storytelling at five stars. The writing was, for me, dense and hard to navigate sometimes. Not as elegant as the story being told.

Anderson's research is impecible...exhaustive. He discusses the difficulties in the sources and his decisions in the storytelling. But for me, there was not a flow, like there in in the music he was discussing.

I wonder about the intended audience...the book is marketed as young adult. There are passages that are so gruesome, I wonder at giving it to a teen. Then the history is ponderous and fact-filled. I wonder if teen readers have the stamina to collect those details. Then the music is discussed in detail...I wonder if teens will check out.

It feels like an adult book to me. I know young readers well enough to know this book will find those passionate kids and they will learn as much as I have.

I read and listened to the Symphony. The combination of effects was powerful.

The book talks about Shostakovich playing fragments of his symphony to friends...my son found this clip:

Cas can see dead people...he can see ghosts, and he can kill them. The bad ghosts who prey on innocent people. Cas sends the ghosts 'somewhere' and thCas can see dead people...he can see ghosts, and he can kill them. The bad ghosts who prey on innocent people. Cas sends the ghosts 'somewhere' and they can no longer create havoc.

He lives a temporary life with his mother, moving from town to town, ghost to ghost. So, he moves to a new town to kill another ghost. Anna...Anna, dressed in blood.

He enrolls in a local high school, just so happens to find an empath and a warlock...and a group of jocks who do not come out on top in their encounter with Anna.

Cas becomes intrigued with Anna and her story...her death, being trapped in her house, the dead bodies in the basement. Just your typical young-love story, right?

There's more to Anna, and to Cas, and to Thomas, and to Queen Bee Carmel.

I had said at the end of the last book that I needed Simon and Magdalena to get married, and I got my wish...enough time has elapsed that they also haI had said at the end of the last book that I needed Simon and Magdalena to get married, and I got my wish...enough time has elapsed that they also have two little boys. On a pilgrimage to thank God for their boys' health, they once again get embroiled in nasty mysteries...that eventually draw the Hangman to the little town.

We learn a bit more about Jakob's war years, and he is reunited with a comrade. We continue to see the prejudice against his family and the license others feel to be hateful and dangerous. I assume this is historically accurate, but it hurts to see their family judged like this. Maybe it's because I know and love them.

There are hints that Jakob will step down from his position as Hangman...but his son is not ready to take over yet. Jakob is truly showing and feeling his age...and the ending, while not a shock, is still too sad to think about for long.

Golems, mad scientists, torture, plague...just a walk in the park for this family!...more

Cece Bell suffered a sudden bout of meningitis which she survived, but not without damage...she was deaf after her illness, and had to learn to navigaCece Bell suffered a sudden bout of meningitis which she survived, but not without damage...she was deaf after her illness, and had to learn to navigate a whole new world...a world that sometimes excluded her, sometimes ignored her, sometimes targeted her. She had to figure out how to participate and how to be a friend and a little kid.

This is an honest, sometimes brutal, look at what it means to be a smart kid who's different. She loses friends, has to worry about her differences. She has to figure out how to just be a kid...with huge hearing aids and a mic the teachers had to wear.

She is not sentimental; she is matter-of-fact. This is her life and she figured it out.

A book like this would be perfect to share with 'regular' students as a reminder that we're all more alike than different. That our differences should not define us, separate us, isolate us. It could also give those kids who have a similar journey a fellow passenger...someone who understands those moments of frustration and self-doubt.

When I first read the DIARY, I desperately wanted to be Anne's friend. When I read it again, in Amsterdam, after only walking past the Annex, I wantedWhen I first read the DIARY, I desperately wanted to be Anne's friend. When I read it again, in Amsterdam, after only walking past the Annex, I wanted desperately to be her English teacher. She lived a full life within those confining walls, and she left a treasure for the world.

This graphic biography gives us background of the family and its place in the world, and adds enough current events for us to see the two tracks of the story which would collide.

The story is far more than just the DIARY, as it follows the families after their capture, and even gives us a suspect for the betrayal. How ironic that Peter and Anne and Margo died so close to the liberation of the camps.

We lost her, and all the potential she promised. But we have her DIARY which still inspires us all....more

I am a midwestern girl...have spent time in rural Indiana and taught in rural Iowa. I recognized the characters of this book...these tight friends whoI am a midwestern girl...have spent time in rural Indiana and taught in rural Iowa. I recognized the characters of this book...these tight friends whose relationships sometimes go into auto-pilot. These young men who can't wait to escape the farm, or their tiny town of Little Wing, WI. The young men who stay and watch their buddies return for a short time or forever. Women who love these men must be strong.

Butler has created a story of PLACE...and the place is so vivid...Little Wing is a dying town. It's too hard to farm as an independent. The characters, who all speak in their own voices, understand the beauty and the harshness of this land. The change of seasons, the sky. Even if I thought a farmer and a rodeo rider might not take the time to really observe the beauty of the place, I loved all the descriptions. I could conjure up Little Wing in their love.

Four young men. Four weddings. Four marriages. Some successful and some not. Hank stayed on the land and is now tied forever with his wife Beth and their little ones. Ronnie was the first to leave, to go on the rodeo circuit, and has the scars to prove it. But his brain injury happened right at home, and his buddies have become his watchdogs...Kipp eager to prove himself, to prove he can be the town's savior, to prove he can single-handedly drag Little Wing into this century. Then there's Leeland, a rock star who is drawn toward home whenever the rest of the world comes too close.

Beth holds the four men together more than they know...more than Hank knows.

Butler was trained at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. I have a young friend who also participated in the Workshop. I can hear the poetry of the place in this book.

I listened to the audible, with five narrators, each characterizing these folks in his and her own way.

Through their words and voices, I came to really care for these people, and for this place...this place that has survived and will probably continue to survive because there are people who love it.

I was taken back to my Iowa students...farmers' sons and daughters whose views of life were so different from my own, whose observations were keener, clearer. They didn't agonize over the future. They knew they were connected to the earth and to the place. They were confident in their ability to make a living and a life. I recognized these young men and women from my classes.

This is the book written by a man chosen by Larsson's father and brother. NOT the woman who had co-wriLisbeth and Blomkvist. Together...kinda...again.

This is the book written by a man chosen by Larsson's father and brother. NOT the woman who had co-written the others in the series. I know there has been lots of controversy over this choice, but I love these two characters too much NOT to read.

Another complicated global story of computer hackers, autistic geniuses, and connections back to Lisbeth's past...unfinished stories.

I got lost sometimes in the huge cast of characters, but I kept my eye on Lisbeth and Blomkvist. Always these two.

Tightly plotted, even when I didn't think so. Marlowe notices everything and comments on it. Lots of description with similes and metaphors. Would beTightly plotted, even when I didn't think so. Marlowe notices everything and comments on it. Lots of description with similes and metaphors. Would be fun to use his descriptions in the classroom.

Phillip Marlowe seems to be minding his own business but gets involved in one case, then another, then another. But wait! Are they all connected somehow? You betcha!

Great stock characters...great atmosphere. My first Chandler, but I'll look for others.

1969 -- the summer of love. The summer of Woodstock. Also the summer of Stonewall.

I had never heard this story, of a gay bar deep in Greenwich Villag1969 -- the summer of love. The summer of Woodstock. Also the summer of Stonewall.

I had never heard this story, of a gay bar deep in Greenwich Village, in 1969...when being gay was a crime, and you could be arrested, also, if you wore the clothing of the 'other' gender.

Stonewall Inn was a relatively safe place for gay men, and some women, to congregate and be themselves.

Until June 28, 1969, when a local police officer decided a quick raid might net some Mafia bosses, who ran the bar, some transvestites, and off they went. The raid did not go the way they thought, and a standoff, a barricade, a standoff developed.

Stonewall was the beginning of the end for this kind of discrimination and victimization. Gays and their friends stood up and registered their disapproval of the raid and the authorities who continued to criminalize being gay.

Bausum's prose is tight and clunky through this part of her story, and I really had to fight to stay interested. Long paragraphs of information, too few quotes to break it up, and too few pictures...none from that night. But, I read an advance copy, so those things might have been corrected in the final copy.

But once we learn the facts of this hidden story, her story takes wings as she chronicles the story of gay rights from that night in 1969.

Her chapters entitled "The Awakening," "Gay Pride," "Gay Plague," and "The Rainbow" are so strong and passionate...like the author felt she had to survive the Stonewall raid in order to get to the story of survival and transcendence...

Having read THE INNOCENT MAN, I am not surprised that Grisham has a heart for the underdog. All his fiction has that feel, but his nonfiction about RoHaving read THE INNOCENT MAN, I am not surprised that Grisham has a heart for the underdog. All his fiction has that feel, but his nonfiction about Ron Williamson shows us how much he cares...cares for justice and for rightness.

I say that to preface my review here. I've not seen that sense in his other fiction before GRAT MOUNTAIN. Here he shows us tireless champions of the downtrodden...not in Grisham's usual haunts of law offices, but in coal country. Dirty, gritty, coal country.

Grisham exposes (sorry) the ugliness of the business that exploits, uses up, then spits out, the poor workers who have no other options. He shows how these businesses are buying up land cheap and literally blowing off the tops of mountains, and scraping the land clean to get at the coal buried beneath the surface.

People be damned. Land be damned. Culture be damned. There's coal and these companies want it.

I was frankly more interested in this side of the story than the young lawyer of the piece. Samantha has lived her entire life in privilege...the best schools, a great law firm...yes, her parents are divorced, and yes, her dad was disbarred and sent to jail, but...

When Sam loses her great -- but exhausting -- job because of the 2008 meltdown, she is left with no options but to leave NYC and spend a year 'interning' at a nonprofit, hoping the economy will improve and she can return to the rat race.

But a funny thing happens. Sam learns there's more to life than new cocktail bars and more to work than long hours reading boring contracts.

She learns how to practice law to actually help others...to improve their lives and the lives of their children.

But always the coal companies are there to exploit and use up. And the mountains, with their scars, overlook everything.

For me the book lost its team at the end, but I like this crusading Grisham. I like him a lot....more

A female detective, in 1929 London? That's Maisie. But she's more. So much more. A brilliant child whose future could have been 'service' in the greatA female detective, in 1929 London? That's Maisie. But she's more. So much more. A brilliant child whose future could have been 'service' in the great homes of England before WWI. But her brilliance gives her an avenue to escape service. Then she escapes her education and school to serve as a nurse in the Great War.

The storytelling works with long flashbacks which are kind of clunkt to me...not gracefully inserted. We abruptly leave one story for the other. Quibbles aside, we see Maisie as a complex, layered, conflicted, woman when we meet her, and the flashbacks help us understand her.

To think of how devastating the war is, even ten years later, reminds us that for the Europeans, this really was the Great (and terrible) war.

The central mystery revolves around horrifingly-injured soldiers who returned to a world that didn't want them. The bad guy of the piece wasn't developed enough for my taste...but I can see how people like him would prey on these veterans.

The final scenes of the book caused me to reassess my opinion of Maisie. They unsettled me, and made me sad. She may not be as brave as I previously thought....more

I needed this. Fast, twisty...I appreciate the way Brown weaves in current issues of bullying and guns into this. We have a strong heroine, a broodingI needed this. Fast, twisty...I appreciate the way Brown weaves in current issues of bullying and guns into this. We have a strong heroine, a brooding hero and lots of questions....more

Not sure what the problem was for me...I listened to this book, and the narrator gushed and gushed about the author, so it's apparent he is a groupie.Not sure what the problem was for me...I listened to this book, and the narrator gushed and gushed about the author, so it's apparent he is a groupie. The audible had an interview where the two talked about translating the book to audible and talked about the very long sentences...I think the author actually said he had one sentence that was 6 pages long!! What the heck??

The reading drove me crazy, because the narrator seemed to add his own commas by pausing every three or four words, whether a pause was needed or not. The reading did NOT sound natural at all.

And since I listened, I was unaware of the chapter titles and how they transitioned. AND I never figured out the format of the book...one song over time and artists? Sometimes. Other times it felt like the author was talking about artists and not songs.

It was extremely self-indulgent and for me that was frustrating.

BUT the thing that irritated me the most?? It's an audible! How hard could it have been to include the performances Marcus went on and on and on about? Probably hard...copyright and all. But. That would have enriched the book, and might have saved it for me.

I confess, I was interested in this mainly to compare and contrast with the new SHERLOCK's "Study in Pink." The writers of the BBC show are so cleverI confess, I was interested in this mainly to compare and contrast with the new SHERLOCK's "Study in Pink." The writers of the BBC show are so clever in using details from Doyle's original pieces and then twisting.

The scenes of Holmes and Watson beginning to size each other up as friends, roommates, and colleagues are so interesting. Two bright men, masters in their fields.

Not only Lestrade, but another Scotland Yard detective needs to be made fun of. A grisly murder...with only Holmes able to read the clues. Two men enter an abandoned house. Only one walks away. The two detectives bumble along, but Holmes puts the clues together.

And right as he should begin explaining, the scene changes to the deserts in SW United States. An explorer and a beautiful young cbild are dying of thirst, but are rescued by Brigham Young and his band of Mormons. We spend years in Salt Lake City, watching the child grown up, and her adopted father to become wealthy.

I kept wondering how the two stories are connected...but connected they are. The American back story perfectly explains the two murders in London.

I loved the detour thru the deserts of the US. I loved seeing Holmes and Watson for the first time in print....more

What a great surprise! I picked this up on Audible Daily Deal because I really do like lawyer-procedural novels. This one was a great one. Brigham livWhat a great surprise! I picked this up on Audible Daily Deal because I really do like lawyer-procedural novels. This one was a great one. Brigham lives in Salt Lake City...sounds predictable, but like everything about this book, Methos goes for the UNpredictable. Brigham is from New Orleans. A brand new lawyer who works as a custodian at an elementary school.

A brand new lawyer who gets a job at a shady law firm run by a former Russian Mafia member...maybe he's former.

Brigham's first big case is to defend a mother...a war hero who lost a leg overseas. She shot and killed the man who abducted her daughter, tortured the child, and murdered her. Amanda will be executed unless Brigham pulls off a miracle.

At this point, I thought, "A TIME TO KILL and Jodi Picoult's PERFECT MATCH." Both feature parents who take the law into their own hands. But again, Methos twists the story and keeps me on my toes.

My only concern about the book was it was too short! I wanted more. I wanted more Brigham, who judges others' clothes and cars against how long he could pay rent or buy groceries with the money spent. Brigham, who has two second-hand suits...one with a missing top button. Brigham, who has a deep, dark past. A reason he was drawn to the law, and a reason he burns for justice. Then there's Molly. And Scotty. And Tommy Two-Balls (don't ask!). I want more. I want a series. There were so many questions at the end of this one.

I found WEST WITH THE NIGHT before I discovered OUT OF AFRICA. I always thought you could declare your allegiance to one woman or the other, Beryl orI found WEST WITH THE NIGHT before I discovered OUT OF AFRICA. I always thought you could declare your allegiance to one woman or the other, Beryl or Karen. But not both. The formed such a tortured triangle, with Dennis at the heart. But they were so much alike.

All this to say I loved this retelling of Markham's memoir...and I was astonished this time with my frustration with Beryl. She had NO 'give', no compromise. She didn't try to work things out, or to settle. My younger Me deeply admired her and cheered her on. My much older Me sees she made things much more difficult for herself than she needed to. But if she hadn't, would we have had that amazing trans-Atlantic flight INTO the headwinds? How symbolic of her entire life.

McLain did an exemplary job of taking this flawed, mercurial, testy, brilliant woman and place her firmly in her time and place. McLain didn't gloss over Markham's thorns and shortcomings, her disloyalties. She gave us glorious, prickly Markham who made some collosal mistakes and some collosal achievements.

What a woman Beryl Markham was. I think she scares me now more than she did before. Her ferocity leaps from these pages....more

Ok, READY PLAYER ONE was not written with me as the audience. This one wasn't either, but I realized I DO know a lot about sci-fi narrative lines. I gOk, READY PLAYER ONE was not written with me as the audience. This one wasn't either, but I realized I DO know a lot about sci-fi narrative lines. I got the references, saw how Cline had manipulated them, mashed them, merged them. I loved that. Zach is a young man I'd've loved to teach. His sense of fairness is strong, and he stands up for others. That will be an asset for him when he battles to save the world.

I cared about Zach a lot, and I was invested in his story, his discoveries, his stuggles.

I saw a review that complained that there is nothing 'new' here. I disagree. In this homage to sci-fi, Cline created a new Gestalt whole. Out of all the books and films dealing with 'invasion of Earth' story lines.

I got the references here (except the games) faster than in the other book, and I know that helped me enjoy the book.

I listened to Will Wheaton's audible, and love that he spoke FOR Zach, not just recited the words. BUT I was listening in the car with my Grands...the 8-year-old told me there were bad words. I explained the characters were trying to save the Earth, so we would forgive the bad words.

Cute, but...One of the first children's books with a modern setting. Peter feels like the new baby, Fudge, is an attention-hog...and Peter feels invisCute, but...One of the first children's books with a modern setting. Peter feels like the new baby, Fudge, is an attention-hog...and Peter feels invisible. What he doesn't see, but we DO, is that Fudge idolizes his big brother, even when he's making his life miserable. ...more

Finally...the only books was assigned in school that I did not finish. Just a little late. Uneven narration...I can see why it is a challenge for younFinally...the only books was assigned in school that I did not finish. Just a little late. Uneven narration...I can see why it is a challenge for young readers...the scenes where we are given back stories are clunky...as a teen, I would have skipped and lost a bit...a bit of the charms.

Silas Marner is forced to begin again and again. His future is stolen by others, and he keeps plodding forward. His friends turn on him? He moves and starts a new life. His gold is stolen? He mourns and starts over.

And then a golden child enters his life and everything changes...

Complicated twists that come together, and the reader smile with the last line. Good guys can finish first....more

Titles are important to me, and I guess I shouldn't quibble about this, but I'm so frustrated about the title....it is the title of the portrait UncleTitles are important to me, and I guess I shouldn't quibble about this, but I'm so frustrated about the title....it is the title of the portrait Uncle Finn paints of sisters June and Greta. There is negative space in the portrait that seems to be important; there is negative space in the book cover illustration.

That frustration aside, this book, set in1987, is about the girls losing their Uncle to AIDS...a new, mysterious disease that targets gays. Finn is only in the first few pages, but literally haunts the entire novel.

Written in June's voice, we see how the sisters have fallen apart...and older sister, Greta, is portrayed as the wicked one. June seems much younger than her 14 years...kind of backward and awkward with people.

A posthumous gift from Finn challenges June to "take care of Toby," Finn's lover...the reason, according to June's mom, that Finn did. June and Toby begin a tentative friendship, each protecting his and her heart...and his and her version of Finn. Always Finn.

I found myself frustrated with June...even with my experience with teens, she seemed brilliant and hopelessly dense at times.

But she learns. Greta learns. A crisis brings them together and enmeshes Toby, finally, into the only family he has.

With all the frustration I felt, this is a book I will remember......more

Zafon, of SHADOW OF THE WIND fame, had a career as a YA novelist before his adult novel was written. This is the second I've read...atmospheric, creepZafon, of SHADOW OF THE WIND fame, had a career as a YA novelist before his adult novel was written. This is the second I've read...atmospheric, creepy, frightening. A sense of place, this time Normandy before WWII. A mad toy maker and a malevolent shadow...a shadow, a dopelganger, that wants his soul.

Three young people try to solve the mysteries without losing their lives. Irene and Ismael are the sweet young lovers, and Dorian, her brother, sees horrible things no child should have to.

Well, rats! Goodreads lost my review! Loved it...loved what I learned about Jakob in the war. Loved Magdalena and Simon attempting to rush to the rescWell, rats! Goodreads lost my review! Loved it...loved what I learned about Jakob in the war. Loved Magdalena and Simon attempting to rush to the rescue of the Hangman who is accused of murder, and tortured. Loved the ending....more